More residents in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) – some 500,000 of them – have left the region in the past five years, while only 381,000 people have come in during the same period.
That is according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which cited the following reasons for the movement: housing and the high prices of property, pollution and traffic situation, and the density of the population in the NCR.
People residing in Metro Manila know only too well about the living conditions in the city and will not be surprised that those reasons have encouraged half a million residents to leave and settle elsewhere. The data also showed that many of those who left opted to buy or rent houses outside the metropolis because it is cheaper. But many of them still work in Metro Manila.
Adrian Cerezo, assistant national statistician of the PSA Social Sector, noted that many of those who transferred outside the metro, have found the commute to their places of work “bearable enough.” He said that many have opted to work from home or do hybrid work.
The dense population in the metro was also a reason for residents to leave.
Metro Manila or NCR is composed of 16 highly urbanized cities and one municipality, with a population density of 21,765 persons per square kilometer, according to the PSA. The NCR has a land area of only 619.54 square kilometers, with a population of almost 14 million (13,484,462 according to the 2020 census). The most populated cities in the NCR are Quezon City (2.9 million), Manila (1.8 million), and Caloocan (1.6 million).
The availability of jobs and livelihood opportunities in Metro Manila attracted people to migrate, causing the problems of urbanization, among them, overpopulation and traffic problems.
The government had implemented programs to encourage people to go back to their provinces, in an attempt to decongest the 16 cities and one municipality of the NCR. In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa program was launched. The Executive Order that created the program aimed to “to ensure balanced regional development and equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities through policies and programs that boost countryside development and inclusive growth, provide adequate social services, and promote full employment, industrialization and an improved quality of life in rural areas.”
Another program which aimed to decongest the NCR is the relocation of government offices to New Clark City in Central Luzon, a move made in 2021. At least six government facilities will be located in the 220-hectare National Government Administrative Center to house satellite offices of government agencies.
While the net decrease of roughly 120,000 in the population of Metro Manila may not yet be regarded as being indicative of a definite trend, this development is an auspicious augury. Outside NCR, the lower cost of housing, the bearable commute to work in the NCR that’s made possible by public transportation and expressways, the clean air — show how the government programs started years ago are working to help solve the problems of urbanization.
Transforming the metropolis into a more livable habitat for humanity is a priority task for government that would yield beneficial outcomes if supported by all sectors of society.